Shoe heel



W. S. SHAFT June 24, 1930.

SHOE HEEL Fild May 29, 1928 2 SheeiiS-Slfleefkl l "Ill Ill INVENTR. nwL75 5. SMQ/Cr June 24, ,1930.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 sHoE HEEL W. S. SHAFT Filed May 29. 1928 the desiredresults.

Patented June. 24, 1930 UNITED STATES lPATENToFFicE y WILLIS S. SHAFT,OF FRIBALT, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOB TO SHAFT-PIERCE SHOE COMPANY, OFFARIBAULT, MINNESOTA.

Application filed May 29,

ing the heel of a shoe whereby the trans-v mission of shock to thewearer of the shoe, incident to walkin will be prevented.

It has, heretobe ore, been proposed in the art, to provide means forcushioning` the heel, such` as by the use of rubber heels se cured toythe ordinary heel lifts or by the' use of cushioning inserts in theordinaryl heel. lVhile the use of rubber heels has been found beneficialto la certain extent such use does not entirely cushion the lheel orgive The use of inserts in the heel as now known the art has also failedin view of the arrangement of these inserts and the construction.thereof relative to the usual heel.

It isV therefore anotherisalient feature of` this invention to provide anovel cushion arranged'in the heel of' a shoe in a predetermined mannerand position whereby` the insert will beisposed directly belowthe heelor calcaneumbone of the wearer, whereby the lower part of such bone willrest directly upon the cushion and the cushion thus forming a resilientsupport for the bone and thus prevent the transmission of shockto thebone and the entire foot and leg of the wearer.

A further important object of the inven Vtion is the provision of acushion linsert for a shoe heel arranged directly below the point oftheheel or calcaneum bone of the foot of the wearer, said cushion insertextending entirely through the sole and heel lifts of the shoe inabutting engagement with an ordinary rubber heel whereby strains placedupon said -inse'rt will be deflected throughout the entire rubber heelvand thus forming a positive cushioning heel for the calcaneum or heelbone.

cushioning heel which will give with each 192s. smaila. 281,518?

vention ofundue wear on the rear edge portion of a rubber heel orwear-lift.

With these and other objects in view, theV invention consists in thenovel construction,

arrangement and formation of parts, as will be hereinafter morespecifically described,

claimed,-and illustrated in the accompanyi y Figure2 is a fragmentarylongitudinal section of a'shoetaken on the4 line 2-2 of l Figure l,looking in the direction of the arrows. i 0,

Figure 3 isa horizontal section through the heel of a shoe constructedin accordance y of Figure 2 looking in the direction ofthe arrows. v i

Figure All is a horizontal section taken ythrough the heel.ofu ashoe onthe line 4-4 of Figure 2 looking in the direction'of the arrows. v -n xFigure 5 ils 'a detail section similar to Figure 2 illustrating aposition assumed b y the inner sole -of a shoe after the vshoe has beenin use@ f y Figure 6 is -a transverse' section through .the shoe heeltaken on the line 6- 6 of Figure `.5 looking in the direction of thearrows. v

Figure 7 is a fragmentary bottom" plan i '-view ofthe inner solelillustrating the cavityv formed vtherein for receiving the upper end ofa cushioninginsert.

with the invention taken on the ,line 3-3 Figure 8 is a fragmentaryperspective view of a shoe sole and heel lifts illustrating theformation .thereof forreceiving a cushioning insert.

Figure. 9 is a detail perspective View of a. cushioning insert', and

Figure 10 is a fragmentary longitudinal section through the' heel of ashoe illustrating a slightly modilied Aform of the invention. i

Referring now to .the drawings in detail,- wherein similar referencecharacters designatel corresponding parts throughout the several views,the letter A generally indicates a `shoe constructed in accordance withthis invention and as shown the same includes an inner sole 15, acounter 16, the upper 17, and the outer sole 18. 'The heel liftsI 19 and20 are secured to the heel or seat on'the sole 18 in the usual way.

In accordance with this invention the sole 18 and the heel lifts 19 and20 are provided with openings forming a well or recess 21. As shown thiswell or recess 21 extends entirely through the heel lifts and sole 18and is disposed at the longitudinal center of the heel but in rear ofthe transverse center of the heel. This recess orwell is so disposed asto liedirectlybeneath the lower part of the heel or calcaneum bone; ofthe foot, for a purpose which will be more fully brought out. The lowersurface of the inner sole 15 is provided with a` seat or cavity 22 andthis seat or cavity is arranged directly above the well and directlybelow the portion of the shoe `upon which the heel bone or calcaneumbone ofthe heel rests. f-

Fitted within the well or opening 21 is a cushioning pad 23 which can beformed of any desired resilient material such as rubber, sponge rubber,or 'any material possessing the necessary resiliency and shock absorbingqualities. The upper end of the cushion 23 is received within the cavity22 as clearly shown inthe drawings. It is preferred that the cushionextend slightly below the lower face of the lowermost lift 2O as is alsoclearly shown in the drawings.

In the illustration I have shown the cushion pads either of circular orcylindrical form but it is to be understood that pads or cushions can bemade in any desired shape and that the opening can be made to conform tothe configuration thereof, the essential feature of the invention, beingthe arrangement of the pad in rear of the transverse center of the heelso as to occupy that portion of the shoe upon which the calcaneum bonenormally rests. p

' After the cushion or pad 23 has been placed in position a rubber heel24 is secured to the lifts 19 and 20 and thus the rubber heel closes thewell or recess 21 and the cushion or pad 23 rests directly upon theupper surface of the rubber heel. Due to the fact that the cushion 23extends below the heel lifts, the rubber heel 24 abuts the lower end ofthe cushion 23 and is slightly spaced from the lifts around the cushion,thereby forming a complete resilient support for the calcaneum bone.

By this construction and arrangement an effective cushion is providedfor the support of the calcaneum or heel bone and this bone restsdirectly upon a pad of cushioning material which will effectivelyprevent the transmission of injurious shocks to the heel bone andconsequently to the entire foot and leg of the wearer. With a shoeconlis clearly drawings.

structed, in accordance with this invention, persons are enabled to walkfor long distances and to stand upon their feet for long durations oftime without injurious effects,

thus rendering the shoe particularly adapted for persons whose callingrequires them to be constantly upon their feet.

The provision o f the cushioning pad 23 resting upon the rubber heel 24adds resiliency to the entire shoe heel and the calcaneum bone restsentirely upon the cushioning material. y

In Figure 10 of the drawings I have shown a slightly modified form ofthe invention 'and in this form, I prefer to have the opening 21slightly tapering toward its upper end and in this form I prefer to usea cushion 25 of substantially frusto-conical configuration with thelower face of the pad of a greater area than the upper face thereofwhich allows a relatively large seat for the pad or cushion upon therubber heel 24.

After a shoe, constructed as shown, has been in use for a time, thecavity 22 formed in the inner sole and the cushion 23 allows the innersole to form a recess in the upper l face to normally receive' thecalcaneum bone so that aseat will be provided therefor, as shown inFigures 5 and 6 of the From the foregoing description, it can be seenthat a novel effective means has'been provided for cushioning the heelof a shoe in order that a positive cushioning member is provided for theheel or calcaneum bone and `that'the point of the bone will be normallyseated upon a shock absorbing member.

Not only does the pad or cushion form a shoe of great comfort, but thepad also prevents undue wear on the rear portion of a rubber heelincident to walking, in that in each step taken, the cushion or pad 23is compressed thus taking up the jolt or shock generally imparted to therear surface of the heel. I

Changes in detail may be made without departing from the spirit or scopeof this invention but What I claim as new is:

In a shoe, an inner sole having a cavity formed in the lower facethereof, an outer sole, heel lifts secured to the outer sole, the heellifts and outer sole being provided with aligned openings, a pad ofcushioning material fitted into said openings extending above and belowsaid openings with the up- WILLIS s. SHAFT.

